[Yr7-10it] Year 7-10 IT structures

[Bill Kerr]

I had another go at this on my blog:
http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/10/decline-of-it-in-education.html

it gets a bit complicated because probably many traditional subjects are at
least sometimes taught in routine, formulistic and uninspiring ways
eg. maths out of the textbook

certainly its asking too much for any teacher to be continually innovative
in whatever subject they teach, given the pressures on teachers in general

but when computers came along as new, important, "vocational" some of this
was then converted into skill routines at the school level - here's a new
application (eg. Office), how do we use this properly - initially this was
enough to establish the subject but has not been enough to sustain it R-12
or K-12 in the longer term

Yes the IT teacher knows how to use Word better than the English teacher

But it's not reasonable for a subject (IT) to sustain itself long term
mainly on a skilling basis. It would  not be reasonable for any other
subject to do that

In some cases the forces for IT have not developed a compelling enough
argument for IT to be retained as a separate subject

In other cases a compelling argument - a deeper approach - has been
developed and the stakeholders (students, school admin, universities) have
heard it

For the students who think they are "digital natives" it has to be a good
argument since it is coming from the "immigrants"

In other cases the argument has been developed but fallen on deaf ears

I'm saying that its not reasonable and not inspiring for IT to remain as a
separate subject unless it does develop an argument that is equivalent to
the best argument that English, Maths, Science could develop. To teach IT
mainly as a skill is boring anyway - who really wants to do only that?

These other subjects have a 400 year plus magnificent tradition

Now what is it about IT that makes it equivalent to these subjects? That is
the argument that has to be developed for IT to compete long term as a
standalone with these subjects, if we want that.

Your comments could also be read as an argument for a new subject such as
"media studies"

How do media changes effect our learning - eg. if students watch as much TV,
play computer games, web surfing, use their mobile phones etc. - how does
that impact on their ability to sit in a class and listen to a teacher?

Media studies might be an elective in school - but there is something
happening here in the way media is changing that is having a profound effect
on everything that happens in school

IT teachers losing their subject is a wakeup call for a bigger problem -
like a species becoming extinct might signify a broader significant change
in the whole environment

-- 
Bill Kerr
http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/

On 10/17/07, Costello, Rob R <Costello.Rob.R at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:
>
>
> making the parallel with English / computer literacy is suggesting that
> "digital native" status does not mean we necessarily abandon attempts to
> build on kids skills in a concentrated way
>
> what are the ideas that computer literacy opens to us?
>
> Well, what is software?
> It is medium in which we carve and express ideas. It provides a milieu
> in which we increasingly communicate. It is an increasingly dominant
> substrate in our culture. It is mirror in which we see ourselves -
> watching my 5 year old snap himself on the web cam.
>
> there is a plasticity in software, that means it can morph into every
> domain - can be video editing, email, spreadsheets, game design,
> blogging, CAD etc
>
> and teaching kids how to work with it, be creative with it, in whatever
> form or context, can be valuable
>
> sometimes the very diversity of forms works against seeing what the
> deeper ideas are
>
> Also can lead to the "ICT is just a tool, lets not focus on the
> technology" - "its teachers who make sure its used in meaningful
> contexts" sort of thing
>
> and I broadly agree with the sentiment, in many cases
>
> Yet given the plasticity of the software, it would also be nice to let
> kids experience how to work with that - to take control at that deeper
> level, to have some ideas of how to write it, not just read (experience)
> it  (=literacy)
>
> Its harder, but potentially it goes further than mastering applications
> - valuable as that is
>
> Kay says that putting a piano in a classroom is not going to make
> musicians - the teacher, and the music (software) are the key elements -
> the music is also the expression
>
> the discipline of performing music is "hard", takes years of training to
> reach higher levels
> and it builds in complexity as it goes - builds on previous skills
>
> Systems thinking, object orientation, etc, is possibly as hard to
> master, just as useful and adaptable when mastered  - and accessible at
> earlier stages with the right tools
>
> Agree we don't have a clear sense of what these big ideas are - too
> taken with the range of apps (=music appreciation, reading?)
>
> though playing with them does also give some measure of the ideas,
> indirectly- and may payoff in other ways (the communication or
> expressive or analytical power of the tool) - and may be appropriate in
> many cases, classes etc
>
> PS here's one spinoff of tinkering with software at school age -
> wouldn't have occurred if I'd been left to the apps of the day - a
> little induction into BASIC started the accessibility of constructing
>
> www.brainshapes.com
> experimental, may change, copyright, incompletely documented etc
> cheers
> Rob
>
> PS lots of disciplines are making some sort of extended "literacy" claim
> - not just ICT (financial literacy, ethical literacy, scientific
> literacy - the multi-literacy grab-bag)
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:17:10 +1000
> > From: "Bill Kerr" <billkerr at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Yr7-10it] Year 7-10 IT structures
> > To: "Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List"
> >       <yr7-10it at edulists.com.au>
> > Message-ID:
> >       <5d2dce520710151717x5d8d6618h6708ca82433b91bc at mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> >
> > I'm interested in this argument about the "information age" and "IT is
> > equivalent to English", which has come up before on these lists
> >
> > The term "information age" is too vague now IMO. The "information age"
> did
> > not start with the computer - it started with the printing press.
> > ...
> >
> > The argument that "we can all read and write" implies that IT is
> another
> > form of literacy (equivalent to reading and writing) and so deserves
> an
> > equal place in the curriculum to English
> >
> > That argument might turn out to be correct, eg. we could argue that
> > students
> > could learn to program the computer to represent dynamic systems (eg.
> the
> > spread of AIDS or a traffic jam simulation or global warming) and that
> > this
> > systems theory knowledge is a new form of literacy required by the
> modern
> > citizen. If we understood systems theory better then society would
> have
> > picked up on global warming earlier or developed other perspectives on
> > global warming to our current ones (ie. panic)
> >
> > But it's wrong to equate the ability to read and write English with
> the
> > ability to learn basic computer skills.
> >
> > The English curriculum does not or should not justify itself in
> secondary
> > school on the basis of learning to read and write. It might justify
> itself
> > on the basis that the study of Shakespeare for example provides
> students
> > with new insights into the human condition.
> >
> > "Computer science" (which is perhaps not a real science yet) could
> only
> > justify itself on this sort of basis - that it provides new unique
> > insights
> > into the human condition.
> >
> > Integration of computers into the rest of the curriculum (and
> computing
> > being phased out as a stand alone subject in the middle years) is
> > proceeding
> > on the basis that all computing has to offer is basic (computer)
> literacy
> > skills and that the "digital natives" will pick that up anyway. The
> > comparison here is with oral literacy. Humans learn to talk without
> formal
> > teaching. They don't learn to read and write without formal teaching.
> That
> > process is meant to happen in primary school and is the major focus of
> > primary school. The ability to read and write then opens doors to the
> > collected wisdom of humanity, be it through books or the web.
> >
> > So, what is the argument that computer skills are somehow equivalent
> to
> > English - the subject which provides the underlying basis for all of
> > modern
> > human knowledge, post Enlightenment?
> >
> > Maybe there is such an argument. But the fact that IT teachers haven't
> > developed it coherently is the underlying reason why they are losing
> their
> > subject.
> >
> > --
> > Bill Kerr
> > http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/
> >
> >
>
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